Ayman El Ashry

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) with auditory hallucinations Ayman El Ashry

Schizophrenia is a chronic form of mental illness that affects about 1% of the world's population. Auditory hallucinations are one of the characterized features of patients with schizophrenia with a prevalence measured at 70% and about one-third of those patients suffer from persistent voices for antipsychotics drugs. Acceptance and commitment therapy is an adjunctive treatment modality that helps to decrease the severity of all aspects of auditory hallucinations besides improving acceptance attitudes and autonomous actions toward all types of voices. In this study, ACT improved patients' drug compliance and decreased the relapse rate for about three months after discharge. Accordingly, it will be recommended to incorporate ACT interventions as an integral component in the hospital routine care by psychiatric nurses for patients with schizophrenia, especially in Arab culture.